Ok, it's May already and I have not really done anything about "something really really important that I should have started long long time back". Anyway, watched "Vellithirai" yesterday. It was one of the movies in my "must-watch-during-this-holidays" list. The main and probably the only reason the movie was on my list is because of the Raj-duos, PrakashRaj and PrithviRaj! My liking for them increased even more after Mozhi, an amazing movie which starred my ever-favourite actress Jyothika and also these two people.

Coming to "Vellithirai", although I did expect much from the movie, my expectations toned down a little after reading a few reviews. This movie is another product of Duet Movies, Prakashraj's production company which also produced Mozhi. Now, the story. Vellithirai (Silver Screen in English) is a story about cinema, Tamil Cinema. The story's theme is based on how things happen in real in Tamil Cinema, or so they claim ( The narrator says so) and is dedicated to people who strive to make good cinema, good movies.

The story is definitely something new,something different than what one could normally see in Tamil movies. But, being different doesn't mean that it will turn out good always.Not that this movie was not good, I would say that it was a good effort but just wasn't enough. The movie tells the story of Prakashraj who has been on the look for a 'hero' role for the past 16 years and his room-mate Prithviraj is an assistant director, striving to make his own movie for the past 10 years. One day, frustration creeps in and Prakashraj steals Prithvi's "story" (one that he wrote to direct by himself) and uses that to buy himself the 'hero' role. Soon, Prakashraj becomes the "Thalapathy" of Tamil Cinema. He has various fan clubs around the world and becomes super-popular.

Prakashraj's dirty act does come to light, but no one can do anything since Prakashraj smartly registered the story uner his name. Meanwhile, Prithviraj marries Gopika, a popular heroine introduce by him. Unable to find a break for himself, Prithviraj becomes dejected and sorts to drving cabs to make a living. Once, when he goes to meet a producer, the producer casually comments that Prithviraj should cash on on his popularity as the 'husband of an actress' to become a hero and forget his ambition of becoming a director. This frustrates him further and results in Gopika moving out of the house hoping that things will be better for Prithviraj thereafter. I honestly don't find the logic behind this, but movies are not always logic anyways!

Now, Prithviraj is given a golden chance by a producer who knows everything ( about Prakashraj stealing the story and bla bla) and says that Prithviraj should 'use' Prakashraj himself (his popularity and star-status) to become a successful director.Then, the rest of the story is how Prithviraj wins Prakashraj.

On the performance, no one really caught my attention, I mean no one performed well, for me to call them amazing or superb. Really. Prakashraj's role was different with a villainy touch but he wasn't up to mark. I am not a pro to say this but Prakashraj was not his usual self there. He's definitely one of the best actors in Tamil I have seen I must say, but not in this movie. Somehow I felt that none of the main characters of the movie were shown in-depth. The characters say that they are struggling or that their are sad or angry but somehow you can't relate to them.They somehow don't show it clearly.

Btw, there's also another confusion on who exactly the hero of the movie is. Not that we do need a hero but based on the screen space given, Prakashraj looks like the hero of the movie.Moreover, with two song featuring him. Now, on Gopika. She's supposed to be the popular actress.But, she doesn't have the screen presence to potray the role.Rather, she looks like this poor little girl who has been forced to wear all those "movie outfits".Oh, one must also watch-out for 'Jeyam' Ravi, Trisha and Sandhya who make guest appearances as themselves. Songs were nice, particularly "Uyirile" and "Kanji Paanaiyin". These two songs were picturised well too.

Overall, Vellithirai was not strong or impactful enough to be called a must-watch movie. It can be watched if you really don't have anything to do but not a must lar.I was kinda dissapointed but let's just hope that Prakashraj's and Prithviraj's next endeavors are good!!!

Chao!